A Midsummer Night's Dream

*3 Ottomans

*Athens Banners

Soft Goods Props Artisan

American Players Theatre; Summer 2017

Directed by John Langs

Scenic Designer: Nayna Ramey Costume Designer: Murell Horton Lighting Designer: Michael A. Peterson

Photo Courtesy to Liz Lauren & American Players Theatre

Royal Wedding Ottomans

The first production of the 2017 season at American Players Theatre was A Midsummer Night's Dream. My main project as the soft goods artisan, were three oval ottomans that the lovers and the royals sat on to watch the play within a play toward the end of the show. There were a total of three ottomans with two that had a section removed in order to fit over the edge of the stage. The pieces were upholstered in velvet in three sections, with handles built in to the colored center stripe. This project taught me a lot about patterning and because of the challenging shape, I learned the importance of even tension when upholstering.

Patterning Seat Cushions

Seat Cushions Cut

Cushion Muslined to Ottoman Base

Batting Layer on Bottom of Structure

Velvet Layer on Bottom of Structure & Canvas Stretching for Center Stripe

Adding Blue Center Stripe

Ottomans in Performance

Photo Courtesy to Erin Brandt & American Players Theatre

Athens Banners

My first major project for APT's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was to create five 7 foot tall banners . Each banner had a different design, 4 of them were mirrors of each other, and one was a combination of the two designs. The banners were made from shiny satin and I tacked the design stripes to the backdrop with Wonder-Under iron-on adhesive. Ultimately, the adhesive didn't hold, and I heavily pinned the stripes and stitched them to the blue backdrop. Unfortunately, throughout the course of tech rehearsals, the banners got cut from the show, but I wanted to include them because I learned a lot throughout the process about stitching techniques.